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I will soon be moving to the greater Philadelphia area. This will roughly be the middle of my sales territory. I want to find something on the PA side (due to state taxes) and outside of downtown Philadelphia (city taxes and traffic). Hoping to find a nice burb. Thank you in advance for your help.

When are you moving?
Beginning of January

Where are you coming from?
Dallas, TX

Why are you moving?
Job and to be closer to my daughter

Where will you be working?
I will be working a 5 state sales territory (driving mostly)

Have you been here yet?
Only for a visit 10 years ago.

Will you buy or rent?
I want to rent for one year before deciding on a place to purchase.

If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend?
I prefer a townhouse or an apartment. A house would be fine as well. Not interested in a loft. 2+ bedrooms as I have an 11 year old daughter, in Pittsburgh, that will spend every other weekend with me.
No more than $1400 per month.

Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up?
Either is fine.

Are you married or single? Do you have children?
Divorced, one child

Do you prefer public or private schools?
n/a, she lives in Pittsburgh

Do you have pets?
No

Do you want or need a yard?
No

Are you keeping a car?
Yes

Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet?
Calm with activity near

What do you want to be closest to?
Major highway if possible
Nice restaurants/social scene

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood?
Similar age would be nice. Truly just looking for an upscale safe neighborhood.

I would recommend Doylestown, Jenkintown, Ambler, West Chester, Conshohocken, Pheonixville.

-Doylestown is probably the nicest and most expensive.
-West Chester is very nice.
-Jenkintown, Ambler and Phoenixville are working class but nice. They all have a few restaurants, bars and a movie theater.
-Conshohocken is closest to the city and highways. There are some bars and restaurants.

jenkintown is working class? don't think so. it may have some working class people in it, but they ain't buying those gigantic stone homes, they belong to lawyers and doctors. you're in sales to I suppsoe the question is how do you travel, car only, or plane too? will you be driving, flying, or taking the train to pitt to visit your daughter? (or vice versa). I'd also rate WC above doylestown, esp for a 35 year old male.

I travel 90% by car and will be driving halfway to pickup my daughter. The train could be something for the future but not a priority right now. Why WC over Doylestown?

Thank you

you didn't mention whether you're single or not but I think West Chester has more going on than Doylestown, IMO. it has a large university in town which keeps it lively. it's also a bit further west which makes it ideal.
btw-you're daughter could take the train direct from pittsburgh to lancaster, exton (just north of west chester), or paoli where you could pick her up. it's a bit longer but it's convenient (for you) if you lived in that area.

Jenkintown is definitely not working-class. It's a particularly upscale section of a middle-class suburban area. It's less than 10 miles south of the PA Turnpike which would be convenient for those regional business calls.
While I can't speak on Phoenixville from experience, I've always known Ambler to be a middle-class town.

Nathan, one thing you'll notice about this area is that, compared to (suburban) Dallas, there is a preponderance of older homes and buildings. It's an old city, after all. So if an area isn't "sparkling", it doesn't necessarily mean it's run down. If your really want newish construction and surroundings, you're more likely to find it out in the further 'burbs.

Oh, and if you're planning to wear any Cowboys gear around here, prepare, at bare minimum, to be razzed. Buying tickets in the upper deck at Lincoln Financial Field would not be a good idea, either. LOL

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As always I will throw in a plug for Phoenixville, to go along with thekish. My fiance and I moved here recently and couldn't be happier. Its 15 mins to the Paoli train station which usually gets us to Philly in under 25 mins. Downtown area has a nice selection of restaurants, bars, and shopping. Classic theater in town (the Colonial), Large movie theater in Oaks, shopping malls (King of Prussia and Limerick Outlets) are a short drive away. Valley Forge National Historic Park is just around the corner. What else could you ask for?

We moved into a townhouse here, I know one unit is specifically looking for a tenant in my complex, not sure what they are looking for per month but its a 3 bd, 2 1/2 bath setup.

Before moving here we lived in Bala Cynwyd, PA (Lower Merion) in a 3rd floor walk-up 2 bd, 1 bath that cost $1200/month. If you are driving to and from a 5 state sales territory you are going to want to avoid this area. The reason is that is a lack of immediate major highways to the area. Look to the King of Prussia area since this is where most major highways intersect.

Since I am coming from Dallas most of the construction here is practically brand new. I would prefer newer construction but I really want a nice area. So if it is older that is fine. Thanks for the heads up on that Tone509. Also, Im not a big cowboys fan but might be forced to cheer for them once in a while.

pman, I am single and have compiled some stats. Maybe someone could shed a bit of light on them and give me some better info. This is out of wikipedia. Thanks to thekish for the cities.

Some stats from Wiki concern me for some of the areas.
West Chester and Lancaster have roughly 21% of their populations below the poverty line. Is this a factor in terms of safety for either of these areas?
Lancaster also seems to far out for me.

I wouldn't get too carried away with the m/f ratio or the % married. The bottom line is almost all of these communities, with the exception of Lancaster, are a short drive from each other. Living in any of these communities will grant you access to the social and dating scene to most of the others.

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